Lanterns
by RedSavant
Summary: An incomplete fic I've been bouncing around for a while, with a darker take on everyone's favorite mysterious little acrobat and her... 'friends'. NOT complete. What I have needs feedback badly.


"That's all for today, everyone," Negi shouted over the din of the end-of-class bells and the usual ambient clamor of classroom 3-A. "Please don't forget to read pages 30-35 tonight. K ū Fei-rōshi, Kaede-san, could I speak with you two a moment, please?"

As the girls began to filter out of the classroom, Rainyday Zazie quietly stashed her English textbook back into her bag. She'd enjoyed today's reading. Jason-san's journey from seed to flower had been very interesting so far, even if she had a sinking feeling she knew how it would end. Standing, she nodded goodbye to Satsuki and drifted out into the hallway.

They came for her almost immediately.

"Rainy, Rainy!" The chorus began as soon as she stepped from the classroom, a constant curtain of voices like autumn leaves in the depths of some massive cave. By now it wasn't hard to keep herself from speeding up; it'd been quite some time since she thought she could outrun them. As they drew closer, her eyes focused in strange, not-quite-painful ways, and she could see them.

Privately, she called them Noh spirits, after their mask-like faces and after a character in a certain rather popular animated film. She didn't know if they had any official name; as far as she knew, only she and Aisaka Sayo could see them. They weren't ghosts – well, not human ghosts anyway. But they were always interested in human ghosts, and they were always hungry. The two were linked.

The spirits began to clamor as she drew near, pushing each other to get at her. Zazie felt a slight warmth on her back and the spirits fell back, leaving a respectful meter of empty space on either side of her.

"Rainy, we missed you," the tallest spoke up, its mask sporting four eye-holes and a long, vertical slash for the mouth. "When are you going to let us eat? We saw a lovely tasty girl just a moment ago." The spirits surged ahead of her to circle around a short first-year girl; Zazie vaguely recognized her as belonging to the Swimming Team. "Here she is. May we eat her soul, Rainy? It looks delicious. All the swirly little pinky parts."

"No," Zazie answered, very softly. She'd learned long ago that they could hear her regardless of volume or distance; in some cases she only had to think the words. Shouting only made them sullen, and when they were upset they could not be controlled.

The girl, who had been reading a purple flyer, finally noticed Zazie. "O-oh, hello, sempai," she began nervously. "Can – can I help you?" She added after a moment of silence, one of nature's born waitresses. Zazie shook her head, and absently began juggling the hackysacks she kept in her bag, never taking her eyes off the lowerclassman. The girl laughed uneasily and scurried off. Zazie and the Noh spirits watched her go.

"You're not much fun to be around, Rainy," the tall spirit muttered, glowering at her. "You just scare off the tasty ones. It makes us hungry." Zazie felt a sharp prick between her shoulderblades, but she continued juggling as she walked home to the room she shared with Tatsumiya Mana.

The taciturn sniper was out, as usual, when Zazie opened the door. The spirits stayed outside, and though their masks never changed, they glared at her; she felt two more stabs of pain before she got the door closed and the comforting design of the circle faced her.

It technically wasn't allowed – posters weren't supposed to be hung on doors, and Nitta-sensei wasn't fond of posters anywhere – but the Headmaster had made an exception in this case. The ornate swirls and lines of the poster hanging on Zazie's door disguised an exceptionally complicated runic circle that completed a discreet magical barrier around the room. If Mana had noticed – and Zazie had her suspicions – she hadn't brought it up.

The little acrobat slipped her bag off her shoulder, letting it fall by the door. Her uniform jacket was slung onto Mana's writing desk, with its thin layer of dust, and she quickly sent her blouse after it. She reached back gingerly to pull the tape off her left shoulder, letting the absorbent squares of cloth swing free. The scars beneath stung a little, but none of the gauze squares had any fresh blood on them.

The scars were the reason that the only places Zazie got any respite from the Noh spirits were this room and around her classmates in 3-A. As she peeled away more of the cloth, she shivered a little as the skin of her bare back was exposed to the slightly chill air. It was just as well Mana wasn't home, really. Zazie's suspicions aside, there was no way Mana would learn her secret as long as she had a say in matters.

An extensive network of tattoos covered Zazie's back, with spidery lines of writing continuing up along the back of her neck and around to her sides. The center circle had long ago scarred over, the whiteness of scar tissue providing a sharp contrast to the black ink of the rest of the seal and her dark skin. Latin and Japanese characters circled the outer border, a complex spell that bound the Noh spirits to her.

Only a small patch of blood stained the cloth that had rested over the central seal. Zazie sighed, wetting another cloth and running it over the scar. It came away pink with dried blood, but no fresh crimson appeared. She pulled her hair back, combing it distractedly with her slender fingers, and bent to the sink to scrub the greasepaint from her face.

She allowed herself a moment to look at her naked face in the mirror; there was a small but clear distinction in skin tone between most of her face and a teardrop-shaped area beneath her left eye. She smiled, and reached for the black case to one side of the sink. Pastel firmly in hand, she drew in a green teardrop that precisely matched the lighter spot of skin; her right eye she circled with a fiery orange sunburst.

Classes were over for the day, so instead of retrieving her shirt she slipped into her magician's outfit. The belled tassels on the ankles and wrists, as well as the numerous chimes atop her black-and-red jester's hat, served much the same purpose as her juggling.

"Rainy," the spirits called as soon as she opened the door. The sun had gone down, and their dark robes vanished into the twilight, giving the impression that a horde of paper lanterns had somehow floated free of their hooks. Zazie weaved through them and stepped down off the wooden walkway, enjoying the tickle of grass on her bare feet.

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**That's all there is so far, folks. I'd like to know what you think of it -- interested in seeing more? Not? Let me know. The future of this fic depends heavily on whether I get any feedback on it.**


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